1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pair of scissors for cutting shape involving narrow curves as when adapting the shape and size of a hole in a soft, laminated material like a body side ostomy member of an ostomy appliance having a centrally placed hole for accommodating a stoma to fit the stoma optimally.
In connection with surgery for a number of diseases in the gastro-intestinal tract a consequence is, in many cases that the patient is left with an abdominal stoma such as a colostomy, an ileostomy or a urostomy. In such cases or in connection with a fistula the patient will have to rely on an appliance to collect the bodily material emerging from such opening.
Ostomy appliances are well known. Such appliances may be two-piece or one-piece appliances. In both types of appliances, a body side member is attached to the wearer's abdomen, and optionally a receiving member or bag is attached to the body side ostomy member for receiving secretions from the ostomy in case of a two-piece appliance.
When using one-piece appliances, the whole appliance, including the adhesive wafer or pad securing the appliance to the skin is removed and replaced by a fresh appliance. When using two-piece appliances, the body side ostomy member is left in place for several days, and only the receiving member or bag is replaced.
The service time of the body side ostomy member depends on the amount and aggressiveness of the secretions and of the tightness between the stoma and the body side ostomy member more so, as the access of aggressive secretions to the skin is causing skin problems.
The tightness between the stoma and the body side ostomy member depends on an accurate adaptation of the size and the shape of the hole in the body side member to the size and shape of the stoma.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many attempts have been made designing devices in order to ease the cutting of holes in body side ostomy members.
One principle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,924,574 in which the device comprises a base having a flat top surface which receives the wafer flat-wise thereon in a predetermined position relative to a gage which is engageable by a circular cutter that cuts a circular opening or hole in the centre of the wafer, the diameter of the hole corresponding to a prior measurement of the diameter of the particular stoma. Variants of this principle, which enables cutting of non-circular holes are also known
Another principle is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,079,843 in which the ostomy wafer is placed between the bottom face of a cylindrical body mounted with a blade and a base plate whereupon the blade cuts into the wafer and the circular hole cut as the cutter is rotated. Adjustment of the blade's distance from the center of the cylindrical body for cutting different sized holes is accomplished by means of removable adjustment spacers.
Most of the devices dedicated to adapt a hole in a body side ostomy member to a stoma are quite large and heavy, and also in many cases expensive, so as a consequence many ostomates rely on an ordinary pair of scissors to adapt the hole in the body side member.
In some instances, a pair of scissors intended for cutting finger nails are used, as they have a convenient size, and also have curved blades, which eases the cutting of circular holes. Other users prefer scissors intended for use in connection with fine sewing, as they have more pointed and narrower blades yielding more precision when cutting.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,526 discloses a pair of scissors for cutting bandages and the like wherein the scissors has arms forming an angle with the blades and wherein the upper and lower blades have different length and the lower blade is longer than the upper and the lower blade has a nose for preventing damage on the underlying surfaces. The scissors disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,873,526 does not comprise measures, which prevents that the upper blade pass under the surface of the bandage when the scissors is fully closed.
However, cuffing of materials like adhesive wafers presents a number of problems encountered during the cutting process, which are not addressed by the known types of scissors, so there is still a need for a proper tool for this purpose.